Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Connecticut
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-03-2009, 01:52 PM
 
Location: New England
8,155 posts, read 20,930,426 times
Reputation: 3338

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by JayCT View Post
I must comment on this. Laws are fine if they represent what the majority of the public believe to be correct. Laws are not fine when they are arbitrary and designed by politicians to promote some politically correct cause and then are ignored by the public. Specifically I am talking about the 55 mile per hour speed limit which was imposed in the 70's as a supposed way to save fuel. The problem with this was that it assumes that 55 was an acceptable speed limit for all highways. It is not and as a result, the vast majority of people broke the law daily. Most highways were designed for a MINIMUM design speed of 70. Why then limit traffic to 55? The politicians responded that it saved fuel and lives. Well with that logic, why not lower the speed limit to 40? Or 25? This was protested for years by states that had a lot of rural freeways like Vermont and Arizona but did not get anywhere because it was not politically correct.

Eventually the feds conceded and agreed to increase the speed to 65 but in non urban areas which is defined as communities over a certain size. This was flawed too since it assumes the highway is designed based upon the borders it crossed. So if a highweay happens to cross into a larger town, the speed limit must drop to 55 whether it makes sense to or not. Again, it is just dumb.

Politicians need to let professionals do their jobs and trust them. Is it perfect, no. But then again neither are the politicians and the system they promote. Jay.
Damn great post Jay!

Why do I have this feeling you are in the transportation engineering field.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-03-2009, 03:23 PM
 
438 posts, read 1,191,889 times
Reputation: 275
Quote:
Originally Posted by JayCT View Post
Eventually the feds conceded and agreed to increase the speed to 65 but in non urban areas which is defined as communities over a certain size. This was flawed too since it assumes the highway is designed based upon the borders it crossed. So if a highweay happens to cross into a larger town, the speed limit must drop to 55 whether it makes sense to or not. Again, it is just dumb.
Jay, do you have a cite on this? Right now, everything I'm finding says that the feds returned full control of speed limits to the states in the mid-1990s. If the feds do have a mandate dictating lower speed limits in certain areas, it'd be useful to know which law(s) are in play.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JayCT View Post
Why then limit traffic to 55? The politicians responded that it saved fuel and lives. Well with that logic, why not lower the speed limit to 40? Or 25?
In fairness, I've read that highway driving is most fuel-efficient in the 55-60 MPH range, and I believe that 40 MPH and under is less fuel-efficient. In other words, I don't think the number is arbitrary (whatever one thinks of the underlying policy).

By the way, let me recommend the book Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), by Tom Vanderbilt, which has a lot of eye-opening information about these and other related issues.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-03-2009, 08:57 PM
 
Location: Fairfield
588 posts, read 1,865,973 times
Reputation: 283
Quote:
Originally Posted by JayCT View Post
Most highways were designed for a MINIMUM design speed of 70. <Snip>

Eventually the feds conceded and agreed to increase the speed to 65 but in non urban areas which is defined as communities over a certain size. This was flawed too since it assumes the highway is designed based upon the borders it crossed. So if a highweay happens to cross into a larger town, the speed limit must drop to 55 whether it makes sense to or not. Again, it is just dumb.
In some areas, yeah, that makes perfect sense. But there are quite a few on and off ramps, on the Merritt for example, where it's nearly impossible to get in and out safely, particularly if traffic is going 70+. Well, that, and people will floor it to just to block someone from carefully merging in. Why drivers get so angry about letting 1 car in, I don't know...

If people were a bit more courteous to others, and didnt feel like they had to run over their grandmother just to get to their destination 30 seconds faster, then faster limits wouldnt be a bad thing. But considering how selfish and, even worse, oblivious drivers are, 55 mph speed limit is a good thing. On the other hand, if traffic is very light and visibility and conditions are good, then there's no reason why you shouldnt be able to use judgement and go faster.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-08-2009, 07:48 PM
 
Location: FL
872 posts, read 1,705,525 times
Reputation: 498
Why are the fees so high in the state along with price of gas? Sounds like the good citizens are getting socked in every way.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-10-2009, 08:45 PM
 
Location: Connecticut
34,682 posts, read 56,465,514 times
Reputation: 11162
Quote:
Originally Posted by rogercobb View Post
Why are the fees so high in the state along with price of gas? Sounds like the good citizens are getting socked in every way.
They are high so we do not have to pay any tolls like other states. At least we do not right now. Jay
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-10-2009, 08:51 PM
 
Location: The brown house on the cul de sac
2,080 posts, read 4,829,964 times
Reputation: 9314
Quote:
Originally Posted by rogercobb View Post
Why are the fees so high in the state along with price of gas? Sounds like the good citizens are getting socked in every way.
No, the only citizens that are getting "socked" and paying those fines are the ones that are breaking the law and making our roads unsafe.

And, they deserve to pay it!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-10-2009, 09:04 PM
 
Location: In a house
5,232 posts, read 8,383,754 times
Reputation: 2583
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidyankee764 View Post
I completely agree.

About the 55mph speed limit - especially parts of the Merritt Parkway, 95 and Rt 8, going too much over 65 (because we all know everyone does 10 over) can be a bad idea. I do think that going too slow can be dangerous also but with the congestion on the roads here, a posted 65 or 70 can yield bad results. We already live in a state where lots of people aren't held responsible for their actions.

Kinda sucks getting a ticket for going 68 when the troopers regularly do 75.
the Merrit parkway is an anomaly.
I'm amazed they dont modernize it, at least between Bridgeport & NY.

Far as I recall everyone I know that got caught was held responsible for their actions. If anything I'd say our police are by & large over zealous.

Do they let you go when pulled over for an infraction?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-10-2009, 09:28 PM
 
8,777 posts, read 19,771,072 times
Reputation: 5290
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tin Knocker View Post
Do they let you go when pulled over for an infraction?
If you play it right, and the trooper isn't a jerk, it's quite possible that he'll reduce the infraction. I've had 2 incidents where latitude was shown. The 1st time was as a teen, blazing down 95 early on a Sunday morn. I was snagged by a T-Type(Turbo Buick) and i was going fast enough to merit a charge(and arrest) for reckless driving. He wrote me a ticket for 70. The 2nd incident i was doing mid-70's and instead of giving me a speeding ticket, he gave me a seatbelt infraction because it had the lowest fine.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Connecticut
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top